The use of venipuncture during treatment of a medical patient is almost universal. Venipuncture may be used for a variety of functions, such as introducing a catheter or syringe for nourishing a patient unable to be fed in the conventional manner, providing antibiotics or other drugs into the blood system of a patient or transfusing the blood of the patient. This technique requires the location and penetration of a blood vessel, usually a vein, within the body of a patient. After the vein is located, it must be maintained in a stabilized position during penetration of the vein by a hollow needle or other means for providing communication with the patients blood flowing within the vein. Should the vein not be stabilized, it is likely to roll or shift during the venipuncture procedure. This occurrence can cause the procedure to fail or even lead to more serious consequences to the patient such as hemorrhaging.
At present, a person performing a venipuncture procedure on a patient typically will put tension on the skin by stretching it with their fingers to prevent the vein from rolling during the venipuncture. This technique requires one hand be employed in stabilizing the vein and is not always successful due to the location of the vein, or particular problems associated with the patient.
Typical prior art devices that attempt to stabilize the vein during a venipuncture procedure are described and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,824,516 issued to Tyvand on Sept. 22, 1931 and entitled "Vein Retainer" and U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 939,433 filed Sept. 5, 1978. In addition, French Pat. No. 1,003,251 issued to Roos and published on Mar. 17, 1952 discloses a related device.
Such prior art devices, except for the Tyvand patent, do not permit the device to be adjusted for stabilizing the broad range of vein dimensions encountered during venipuncture procedures. The Tyvand patent discloses a device having retaining fingers, between which a vein may be centered, that are adjustable with respect to each other. This device is designed to be reused, and therefore needs to be sterilized for each application to prevent cross contamination between patients. In addition, the means for adjusting the retaining fingers necessitate rotating a knob secured to a threaded shaft which requires a substantial input of time.
A need has thus arisen for a vascular stabilizing device that is simple and cheap to manufacture so that it may be disposable to prevent cross-contamination between patients. Additionally, a need has arisen for a vascular stabilizing device that is capable of being rapidly adjusted to the dimensions of the vein undergoing the venipuncture.